Weaving together histories of slavery, Mormonism, popular culture, and American medicine, this book offers a fascinating tale of ingenuity, imposture, and identity. While illuminating the complex ...
More

Weaving together histories of slavery, Mormonism, popular culture, and American medicine, this book offers a fascinating tale of ingenuity, imposture, and identity. While illuminating the complex relationship between race, religion, and gender in nineteenth-century North America, the book reveals how the idea of the “Indian” influenced many of the era's social movements. Through the remarkable lives of Tubbee and Ceil, the book uncovers both the complex and fluid nature of antebellum identities and the place of “Indianness” at the very heart of American culture.Less

Real Native Genius : How an Ex-Slave and a White Mormon Became Famous Indians

Angela Pulley Hudson

Published in print: 2015-09-08

Weaving together histories of slavery, Mormonism, popular culture, and American medicine, this book offers a fascinating tale of ingenuity, imposture, and identity. While illuminating the complex relationship between race, religion, and gender in nineteenth-century North America, the book reveals how the idea of the “Indian” influenced many of the era's social movements. Through the remarkable lives of Tubbee and Ceil, the book uncovers both the complex and fluid nature of antebellum identities and the place of “Indianness” at the very heart of American culture.

This prologue briefly examines the lives of Okah Tubbee and Laah Ceil. Born as Warner McCary and Lucile (Lucy) Celesta Stanton, respectively, together they crafted an elaborate traveling Indian act ...
More

This prologue briefly examines the lives of Okah Tubbee and Laah Ceil. Born as Warner McCary and Lucile (Lucy) Celesta Stanton, respectively, together they crafted an elaborate traveling Indian act that included a religious sect, a variety of musical stage shows, and a medical business. Their professional Indian personae helped conceal their interracial relationship, as well as other secrets such as unorthodox religious beliefs and marital practices. The chapter also explores the role that Indianness played within antebellum culture in the United States. It argues that ideas about American Indians were deeply enmeshed with social and cultural forces, including the regimes of chattel slavery and settler colonialism, and played a powerful role in the expression of racial, gender, sexual, class, and religious identities.Less

Prologue

Angela Pulley Hudson

Published in print: 2015-09-08

This prologue briefly examines the lives of Okah Tubbee and Laah Ceil. Born as Warner McCary and Lucile (Lucy) Celesta Stanton, respectively, together they crafted an elaborate traveling Indian act that included a religious sect, a variety of musical stage shows, and a medical business. Their professional Indian personae helped conceal their interracial relationship, as well as other secrets such as unorthodox religious beliefs and marital practices. The chapter also explores the role that Indianness played within antebellum culture in the United States. It argues that ideas about American Indians were deeply enmeshed with social and cultural forces, including the regimes of chattel slavery and settler colonialism, and played a powerful role in the expression of racial, gender, sexual, class, and religious identities.

This chapter describes the rise and fall of the McCarys' fortunes from 1847–50, as they transitioned from minor sectarian leaders to celebrated Indian performers, but then suffered a series of ...
More

This chapter describes the rise and fall of the McCarys' fortunes from 1847–50, as they transitioned from minor sectarian leaders to celebrated Indian performers, but then suffered a series of personal and financial setbacks. Taking the stage in Eastern cities, Okkah Tubbee performed as a Choctaw flutist “torn from his tribe when a boy,” while his eloquent Indian wife, Laah Ceil, performed concerts with oratorical interludes. Laah Ceil played an ever-growing role in shaping their Indian show, including the production of the first edition of their autobiography published in 1848. Although they had become famous in the East, their fortunes changed when they traveled west for the birth of their son Mosholeh and faced theft and ostracism. These hardships motivated the couple to again return to the East, leaving Laah Ceil's older children behind, and to remake themselves as purveyors of “real Indian medicine” and to become doctors.Less

Becoming Professional Indians : The Eastern Debut of Okah Tubbee and Laah Ceil

Angela Pulley Hudson

Published in print: 2015-09-08

This chapter describes the rise and fall of the McCarys' fortunes from 1847–50, as they transitioned from minor sectarian leaders to celebrated Indian performers, but then suffered a series of personal and financial setbacks. Taking the stage in Eastern cities, Okkah Tubbee performed as a Choctaw flutist “torn from his tribe when a boy,” while his eloquent Indian wife, Laah Ceil, performed concerts with oratorical interludes. Laah Ceil played an ever-growing role in shaping their Indian show, including the production of the first edition of their autobiography published in 1848. Although they had become famous in the East, their fortunes changed when they traveled west for the birth of their son Mosholeh and faced theft and ostracism. These hardships motivated the couple to again return to the East, leaving Laah Ceil's older children behind, and to remake themselves as purveyors of “real Indian medicine” and to become doctors.